Downtown New York multi-reedist mainstay Elliott Sharp in his third Aggregat release, in a quintet with Taylor Ho Bynum on trumpet, Barry Altschul on drums, Terry L. Greene II on trombone, and Brad Jones on bass, pushing elastic limits on the concepts of jazz and free improv.

"Here's the third Aggregat opus in which Elliott Sharp continues to go beyond the limits of the two previous releases of this project and again playing only saxophones and clarinets. The first Aggregat was a trio with Brad Jones and Ches Smith with Sharp's unique guitar voice adding to his horn work. After that, Aggregat became a quintet with the addition of Nate Wooley and Terry Greene, Sharp putting his "six- strings" aside.

Now, for "Dialectrical", only Jones and Greene remain, with Taylor Ho Bynum trumpeting and the great Barry Altschul guesting at the drumset. The legendary member of the band Circle, with Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers, Chick Corea and Dave Holland, and also a former Paul Bley's partner, now 76 years old, gives a solid anchor to Sharp es idiosyncratic visions of the jazz tradition.

Yes, the free bop you'll find in "Dialectrical" is more edgy than ever, mixing compositions, simple structural instructions and improvisations in good measure. A tribute to Bley is delivered on this CD, but also to a few of the giants who recently passed away, namely Ornette Coleman, David Bowie and Pierre Boulez. This means the music you'll hear has other musics folded inside and out - the norm with someone like Elliott Sharp, one of the most visionary and flexible musicians of our time."-Clean Feed

Biography for: Barry Altschul

"Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, New York City)[1] is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who gained fame in the late 1960s with the pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea.

Altschul, having initially taught himself to play drums, studied with Charlie Persip during the 1960s. In the latter part of the decade, he performed with Paul Bley. In 1969 he joined with Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton to form the group Circle. At the time, he made use of a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments, which he integrated seamlessly in a whirlwind of sound.

In the 1970s Altschul worked extensively with Anthony Braxton's quartet featuring Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, and George Lewis. Braxton, signed to Arista Records, was able to secure a large enough budget to tour with a collection of dozens of percussion instruments, strings and winds. In addition to his participation in ensembles featuring avant-garde musicians, Altschul performed with Lee Konitz, Art Pepper and other "straight ahead" jazz performers.

Altschul also made albums as a leader, but after the mid-1980s he was rarely seen in concert or on record, spending much of his time in Europe. Since the 2000s, he has become more visible, with two sideman appearances on the CIMP label with the FAB trio (with Billy Bang and Joe Fonda), the Jon Irabagon Trio recording "Foxy", and the bassist Adam Lane. Altschul has played or recorded with many musicians, including Roswell Rudd, Dave Liebman, Barre Phillips, Denis Levaillant, Andrew Hill, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, and Lee Konitz."-Wikipedia

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Altschul)

Biography for: Taylor Ho Bynum

"Taylor Ho Bynum (b. 1975) has spent his career navigating the intersections between structure and improvisation - through musical composition, performance and interdisciplinary collaboration, and through production, organizing, teaching, writing and advocacy. As heard on over twenty recordings as a bandleader, Bynum's expressionistic playing on cornet and his expansive vision as composer have garnered him critical attention as one of the singular musical voices of his generation. He currently leads his Sextet and 7-tette, and works with many collective ensembles including a duo with drummer Tomas Fujiwara, the improv trio Book of Three, the UK/US collaborative Convergence Quartet, the dance/music interdisciplinary ensemble Masters of Ceremony, and the trans-idiomatic little big band Positive Catastrophe.

His varied endeavors include his Acoustic Bicycle Tours (where he travels to concerts solely by bike across thousands of miles) and his stewardship of Anthony Braxton's Tri-Centric Foundation (which he serves as executive director, producing most of Braxton's recent major projects). In addition to his own bands, his ongoing collaboration with Braxton, past work with other legendary figures such as Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor, and current collective projects with forward thinking peers, Bynum increasingly travels the globe to conduct community-based large ensembles in explorations of new creative orchestra music. He is also a published author and contributor to The New Yorker's Culture Blog, has taught at universities, festivals, and workshops worldwide, and has served as a panelist and consultant for leading funders and organizations. His work has received support from Creative Capital, the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Chamber Music America, New Music USA, USArtists International, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation."

-Taylor Ho Bynum website (http://taylorhobynum.com/)

Biography for: Terry L. Greene II

"A New York native, trombonist, improviser, drummer, arranger, and composer, Terry L. Greene II received his Doctorate in Musical Arts from Stony Brook University in 2008. After his studies at Stony Brook under trombonists Ray Anderson and Michael Powell, he went on to perform with The Roots, Macy Grey, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Elliot Sharp, and several other notable creative artists. You can hear Terry on Oliver Lake's latest big band album titled Wheels, and Elliot Sharp's latest Aggregat album called Quintet. Terry has a wide range of experiences in musical genres including New Music, Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and Colombian music, Gospel, orchestral and chamber ensembles, Funk, Hard Rock and Free Improvisation.

Terry is currently the music director for the Thrive Collective in NYC where he has taught band, hip hop, and poetry to middle school students in the South Bronx and Arverne (Far Rockaway). 2016 will be Terry's third summer teaching at Walden. He looks forward to premiering a new composition at the Walden Faculty Concert, making more musical mayhem with his students, and sharing his Walden experiences with his family."

"New York born Brad Christopher Jones is a bassist, composer, and educator. He has recorded, performed, and toured around the world with a diverse array of artists that include Ornette Coleman, Elvis Costello, Elvin Jones, David Byrne, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sheryl Crow, Deborah Harry, Dave Douglas, Vernon Reid, John Zorn, Don Byron, Marc Ribot, and The Jazz Passengers.

Brad has released three recordings under his own leadership with two seperate projects:"UNCIVILIZED POISE" and "THE EMBODIMENT" with his band Aka Alias, and"POURING MY HEART IN" with the Brad Jones Quartet.

Brad is also an experienced educator who has taught workshops and master classes in France, Italy, Canada, and Mexico and is part of the music faculty at Columbia University in New York City."

-Brad Jones Website (http://bassjones.com)

Biography for: Elliott Sharp

"Elliott Sharp is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer.

A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City for over 30 years, Elliott Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from orchestral music to blues, jazz, noise, no wave rock, and techno music. He leads the projects Carbon and Orchestra Carbon, Tectonics, and Terraplane and has pioneered ways of applying fractal geometry, chaos theory, and genetic metaphors to musical composition and interaction.

Sharp is a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, and a 2014 Fellow at Parson's Center for Transformative Media. He received the 2015 Berlin Prize in Musical Composition from the American Academy in Berlin. He has composed scores for feature films and documentaries; created sound-design for interstitials on The Sundance Channel, MTV and Bravo networks; and has presented numerous sound installations in art galleries and museums. He is the subject of a new documentary "Doing The Don't" by filmmaker Bert Shapiro."-Elliott Sharp